The Lawman Lassoes A Family (Conard County: The Next Generation Book 24) (Contemporary Romance)

by Rachel Lee

  “Why did you have to mention that?” she asked. “I wasn’t even thinking about it.”

  “Sorry.” But then he laughed. “I wasn’t trying to scare you. It’s just that I need my bed soon. I have an early half day tomorrow, followed by two games. So... I’d rather you think about it before you’re all alone here and pacing the floor because something disturbs you. I can camp on this couch easily enough.”

  “You wouldn’t sleep well,” she argued, even though the idea appealed to her.

  “Wanna bet? I go out like a light.”

  “I don’t know, Dan. I appreciate the offer, but I need to get used to this sooner or later.”

  “True.” He stood. “Then I’ll just head on home. But if anything makes you nervous, call me. I sleep with the phone beside my bed. For obvious reasons.”

  She looked at him standing there, and felt desire drowning her again. How could any man make jeans and a black sweatshirt look so good? It’s not as if he’d dressed to show off, but even a sweatshirt couldn’t conceal powerful shoulders, and the jeans accentuated his narrow, hard hips. She longed to run her hands up under that shirt and learn the feel of his skin, and if his muscles would ripple at her touch. Such long legs, too. She bet he’d look great in shorts. Or naked.

  He sighed. “If you keep looking at me like that I will be spending the night here.”

  Her heart leaped, then crashed immediately. He turned for the door. “Conversation to be continued at a later date, when you’re really ready. See you tomorrow.”

  He’d almost reached the door when she couldn’t stand it. Forgetting everything else, she jumped up. “Dan!”

  He turned, saw her hurrying toward him. He opened his mouth to ask a question, then apparently saw the answer on her face.

  “Vicki...” He sounded almost cautionary, but she kept hurrying toward him and at last his arms closed around her, his mouth covered hers and everything inside her washed away in an explosion of passion. One thing for herself? This was it. She cast all thought of risks and ramifications aside, needing this more than she had needed anything in a very long time. The hunger had been dancing around the edge of her awareness almost from the start. Now it consumed her, a fire gone wild. She ached. She yearned. Every cell in her awoke, crying for his touches, demanding satisfaction.

  His tongue plunged into her mouth, tasting her with almost as much desperation as a starving man tasted food. When at last he tore his mouth away, they were both dragging in air as if there wasn’t enough of it in the universe.

  “Be sure,” he said hoarsely. “Just be sure.”

  Her voice emerged in a rusty-sounding whisper. “I am if you are.”

  He seemed to have no doubts at all. Astonishing her, he swept her up in his arms. “Krystal,” he said thickly.

  Vicki hadn’t thought of that, and for one instant it almost killed her desire. What if her daughter heard them, or came in? “My room is down the hall.” In this old house, sounds didn’t carry room to room if the doors were closed.

  That seemed to settle it for him. He carried her up the wide staircase, a remnant of better times, while she looped an arm around his shoulders and clung. She could feel the power of the muscles that carried her, and a renewed thrill raced through her. With each step, the throbbing ache within her deepened.

  Passion ruled her now, and she didn’t have even a flicker of doubt, or a concern that she might be making a big mistake. She needed what Dan was offering, and he seemed to want it, too. The rest could wait.

  As he set her on her feet beside the bed, and kissed her again, she felt all the flutters, nervousness and excitement of a first time. Even though she’d been married four years and had borne a child, right then she felt sixteen and caught in the enchantment of an utterly new experience, one she wanted with breathless anticipation.

  After releasing her mouth so that they could both breathe again, Dan trailed kisses along her jaw. His breath, warm and a bit ragged, entered her ear, causing her to shiver with delight.

  “You nervous?” he asked.

  “Plenty.”

  “Me, too.”

  His admission ignited a spark in her. She tipped her head almost coquettishly for the first time in forever, and gave him a sidelong glance. “Are we going to hold a meeting or just jump each other’s bones?”

  “I forgot the roses and chocolate,” he said, laughter in his voice. “So jump it is.”

  All of a sudden Vicki realized that she felt free, truly free, for the first time in forever. Reaching out, she began to tug his sweatshirt up with all the eagerness of a kid opening a present. This was her present. A special hour or two just for her. The sweatshirt went flying at last, and she stared at his chest in the moonlight that bathed the room. Her heart hammered, her blood pounded until it was loud in her ears. Every cell seemed suspended in a moment of almost painful anticipation.

  “Who made you so beautiful?” she breathed, running her hands over his pecs, her palms finding the nubs of his small nipples. So absorbed was she in admiring him, in feeling his warm skin and the way his muscles moved and quivered beneath her touch, that she hardly noticed when her own T-shirt and bra vanished into some dark corner in the room.

  “You’re exquisite,” he said hoarsely. “Perfect.” His hands cupped her breasts, at first just holding them. But then his thumbs began to torture her nipples, each brush and gentle pinch sending ribbons of fresh fire through her.

  She ached, oh, how she ached, and her entire body screamed for him to enter her, now, now...now. Demands rose in her, speechless but no less powerful. There was only one answer to the pounding hunger in her, and it was Dan deep inside her. She became an aching emptiness that only he could fill.

  He took her mouth in another kiss, plunging his tongue into her as he himself would, soon. She began to move in rhythm with his strokes, even as he played with her nipples, until she was clinging to his shoulders and arching backward, trying to bring her hips closer to his.

  The room spun. Almost as soon as she felt her back hit the bed, her shoes and jeans vanished. She lay naked in the moonlight and he towered over her, drinking her in, the very touch of his gaze fueling her passion as surely as the touch of his hands and mouth.

  He stripped quickly, and soon hovered over her on the bed. Her legs parted, her need to welcome him so strong that she didn’t want to waste any more time.

  He knelt until he had rolled a condom onto his full erection, then seemed almost to hesitate. She couldn’t stand it another second. Half rising, she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down on her. Moments later he slipped inside her and she let out a groan of sheer delight.

  At last!

  The passion that drove them was impatient. It swept them up and away so swiftly that in no time at all, Vicki felt herself teetering on the painful yet glorious brink of completion. Part of her wanted to hover there forever, but with one more stroke he pushed her over, and an instant later she felt the shudder of completion take him.

  A million fireworks exploded inside her. The world vanished. All that remained was the man who held her.

  Chapter Nine

  Dan didn’t want to move. He didn’t care if he never moved again. He could have died a happy man wrapped in Vicki’s delightful body.

  But as always, awareness returned. He had to withdraw, get to the bathroom, take care of necessary matters. He hated reality for a few seconds.

  He stirred and kissed her gently. “Be right back.”

  He pulled on his jeans and sweatshirt in case Krys came out of her room, then headed to the hall bath. He washed quickly, then just as quickly returned to the bedroom. Vicki still lay naked and uncovered, silvered by moonlight, looking like a faerie. But she, too, had returned to earth. She lifted a foot and wagged it at him.

  “Socks. We forgot about socks.” Then she giggled.

  The sound made him smile, and filled him with pleasure. So far, so good. He sat on the edge of the bed, sprinkling kisses on her face, then grasping her
hand.

  Her expression changed. “Are you bailing?”

  “Absolutely not. I’m admiring you. I liked that big Cheshire grin on your face, so put it back.”

  Another giggle escaped her. “Wow,” she said quietly, and rolled on her side, wrapping one arm around his hips.

  “Wow,” he agreed. He supposed he ought to say something about how he’d be slower next time, that he didn’t usually make love with all the finesse of a horse racing back to the barn. But then he skipped it. If she allowed them another time together, he’d have a chance to show her.

  She squirmed some more until her cheek rested on his denim-covered thigh. He couldn’t resist stroking her silky shoulder. “Dan.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Just saying your name. I like it. I like everything about you.”

  He didn’t mention the badge that was causing her so much concern. He didn’t want to disrupt the beauty that suffused the room, filled both of them. That showered its blessings in the argent moonlight.

  He squeezed her shoulder. “Can I get you anything? Food, beverage?”

  She sighed and sat up with clear reluctance. “You said you needed sleep tonight.”

  “Believe me, I can go on short sleep for one night. Trying to throw me out?”

  “Not hardly.” She pressed her face to his shoulder and inhaled his wonderful scent. “Unfortunately, the world doesn’t go on vacation. I need to put something on. What if Krys comes looking for me? She’s still doing that some nights.”

  Reluctantly, Dan stood, acknowledging the justice of her concern. They could explain this a whole bunch of ways to her daughter. He was fully dressed, her mom could hide under sheets... But why run the risk? The last thing he ever wanted to do was create any kind of problem for that little girl. Kids, he’d noticed, seemed to have built-in lie detectors, and evasions rarely satisfied them.

  Vicki rose and pulled on her clothes again. He watched with enjoyment, then redirected his own attention long enough to put on his shoes. They went downstairs holding hands, and into the kitchen to make fresh coffee. If coffee ever started keeping him up at night, he didn’t know what he’d do. Staff of life and all that.

  Vicki pulled out some banana bread and cut a few thick slabs. “I hope it’s not stale,” she said. “I made it a couple of days ago.”

  He pronounced it perfect and he meant it. “It’s not too sweet.”

  “That’s because I let the bananas do all the sweetening. Kids get enough sugar without me adding to it.”

  He and Callie had often done this, sitting together at their kitchen table for a late-night snack. His mind traveled back over the years, and he could almost hear her voice again, reminding him of the promise she’d extracted from him.

  “Callie made me promise something.”

  Dan felt Vicki’s gaze on him, and wondered if he had just achieved the world’s highest score for bad timing. He had made love to this woman only a short time ago, and now he was talking about Callie? He ought to quit right now before he really messed things up.

  But Vicki’s hand covered his. “What did she make you promise?”

  “That I wouldn’t turn into a lonely, crusty old widower. She said I wasn’t built to be crusty.”

  “I’d agree with her,” Vicki answered softly.

  “Anyway, she was pretty definite about it. She said we’d had our time together, that we were damn lucky to have had it, and she made me promise to start living again.”

  “She was a very loving woman.”

  “Yes. She was.” He sighed, passed his hand over his eyes. Tears, long gone, didn’t return now. He guessed he’d made some peace at last. “I was listening to her, and I promised, but at the time I was thinking if this is life, I don’t want much more of it.”

  “Oh, Dan...”

  But he could hear that Vicki understood perfectly what he meant. Of course she would. Her loss had come more swiftly, but the piper got paid all the same. Mountains of grief, guilt and anger.

  “Anyway, I thought of that because Callie and I used to do this—sit up late at the kitchen table and have coffee with something sweet.”

  Vicki hesitated, then asked, “Would you prefer to sit in the other room?”

  “No.” He shook his head a bit. “No, I was just realizing... I guess I’ve made peace. It’s okay. It’s very much okay.”

  He looked at her then, wondering how she’d take that. She hadn’t had nearly as much time as he. Of course, peace came in its own good time. No calendar dictated it.

  “I think,” she said after a few minutes, “that I had it easier than you. No lingering, painful illness. Just a swift end.”

  “But unexpected,” he reminded her. “That had to be hard.”

  “Of course. But I had Krystal. That made me lucky. When I least wanted to carry on, I had to. Most of the time when I just wanted to go wallow, I couldn’t. And I was rarely alone because of her. I had a focus beyond Hal’s loss. And I had a piece of him. She looks a little like him. Well, you saw his photo up in her room, didn’t you? There was a time when I couldn’t look at her without seeing his face. Now I mostly see Krys, and I guess that’s a good thing.”

  “Probably.”

  “She can’t become a monument to her father. Not in my mind most of all. So did Callie have any directions about how you were to live the rest of your life?”

  That surprised a laugh from him and returned comfort to the room. “Actually, no. She did tell me once that she’d haunt me mercilessly if I didn’t get on with life.”

  “Has she been around?”

  “Sometimes I feel as if she’s close.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe I imagine it.”

  “I feel Hal, too. I’m not so sure it’s imagination.” Their fingers twined, and they shared a moment of deep understanding. “It’s like a whisper of feeling. A sense. Sometimes it’s almost so strong I’m convinced that if I just had ears to hear or eyes to see, he’d be right there. I know how that sounds, like wishful thinking, but it feels so real. Then it’s gone, like it never happened.” She looked down at their clasped hands. “It doesn’t happen so often anymore.”

  “For me, either.”

  They shared another look of understanding.

  “I guess,” Vicki said, “that I’m moving on. It sounds awful, but it’s necessary. Callie was right about that. That’s why I moved up here. Time to get on with the rest of it, whatever it is. I’d like you to stay tonight, Dan. But you need some sleep. I get it. So...”

  Before she could finish, they heard Krystal coming downstairs. Vicki gave Dan a wry look before withdrawing her hand. “What did I tell you?”

  “I think kids have radar.”

  “It’s entirely possible.”

  Clad in her pink, ruffled nightgown with pink bunny slippers on her feet, Krys stumbled sleepily into the kitchen.

  “Something wrong, honey?”

  “Hungry.”

  Vicki widened her eyes comically. “Really? After that big burger?”

  Krys smiled sleepily. “I didn’t eat it all,” she reminded her mother. Then, as naturally as if she’d been doing it forever, she held out her arms to Dan. He swung her up into his lap so she faced the table.

  “I see some banana bread,” he said. “Want some?”

  “Yummy,” Krys answered. Her head drooped against his shoulder.

  Vicki jumped up and went to get another slice. She put the plate and a fork in front of her daughter.

  “Dan?” Krys said.

  “Yes, pumpkin?”

  “Don’t go away tonight.”

  The words jolted him. She’d said them once before to him, but now he wondered how often Vicki had been hearing them. Their eyes locked over her daughter’s head. He could see the concern on Vicki’s face, but he wasn’t at all sure how to handle this.

  Vicki was gnawing her lower lip. He waited for her guidance on how she wanted to proceed. She surprised him, because this time she addressed the question directly.

/>   “Why don’t you want Dan to go home, Krys? It’s just next door and we’ll see him tomorrow.”

  “I like Dan,” she answered simply. Krys seemed more awake, and she sat up, reaching for her pumpkin bread.

  “We all like Dan,” Vicki agreed. “But you’re going back to bed soon, and he needs to go home to sleep.”

  “He can sleep here,” she stated promptly, then filled her mouth with pumpkin bread.

  “How come?” Vicki asked. “Why is it better if he stays here?”

  “’Cuz I know he’s okay.”

  Dan felt a shaft of guilt that made his entire chest hurt. Had he made things worse for this child by injecting himself into her life? But being friends with Lena, he couldn’t have avoided it, except by being less nice. He wasn’t that kind of person, and he had quickly come to love Krystal. So what now? He looked almost desperately at Vicki, who was frowning faintly.

  “Time for therapy,” she murmured.

  “What’s that?” Krys asked.

  Vicki didn’t answer and Krys finished her snack. Then she threw her arms around Dan before slipping off his lap. “Take me to bed,” she demanded.

  So Dan, with a nod from Vicki, did exactly that, wondering what kind of hell he’d stirred up for Vicki and Krystal.

  *

  Vicki waited downstairs, pacing from the kitchen across the foyer, through the living room and back again. There was no question what was going on with Krystal now, and it wasn’t just the move. She was grasping the fact that the father she barely remembered had gone away and he wasn’t okay anymore.

  Understanding had been inevitable. Maybe her anxiety was, as well. Maybe this was perfectly normal coping, but Vicki felt desperate for a second opinion. She’d unleashed something with this move. Or maybe it would have happened, anyway. How the hell could she know?

  But it seemed to be Dan that Krys was worrying about. Not her friends back in Austin, not Lena going away for a weekend. Krys’s concern seemed specifically focused on Dan and her mother. This was no generalized anxiety. The child seemed worried about just two people.